eFront eLearning (LMS) integration plugin

Discussion in 'Integration' started by skippybosco, Sep 29, 2008.

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  1. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    eFront eLearning (LMS) integration plugin (Moodle alternative)

    ** NOTE: You can find the latest version of the eFront plugin here: **

    http://www.amember.com/forum/showthread.php?p=47873

    change log:
    1.0 01/25/10 - support for eFront 3.6
    .9.8 01/17/10 - deactivate users from lesson/course without losing history
    .9.6 10/31/09 - introduced optional latency setting
    .9.5 07/06/09 - resolved issue where url did not include user type when course was assigned.
    .9.4 05/24/09 - resolved SSO users not being logged out, using native API, added "user to group" functionality, improved performance and various bug fixes (requires eFront 3.5.3)
    .9.3 02/11/09 - Small update for single signon when using a certain version of PHP with aMember on one domain and eFront on subdomain.
    .9.2 02/10/09 - Updated non-critical issue with certain PHP versions that returns non-parseable XML
    .9 02/09/09 - Updated to include multi-lesson/course selection, updated docs for logout and username starting with numbers.
    .8.2 12/23/08 - Updated to fix "remove from" issue introduced by eFront 3.52
    .8 10/22/08 - Fix bug with handling of duplicate IDs, No longer list Lessons that are Course only, fixed issue with mixed case naming of the plugin.
    .7 10/08/08 - Fixed bug with single signon that was introduced with .6
    .6 10/01/08 - Updated to allow selection of course or lesson on a product by product basis
    .5: 09/29/08 - Updated to support courses (patched API), single sign on support
    .1: 09/01/08 - Plugin Creation

    ** NOTE: You can find the latest version of the eFront plugin here: **

    http://www.amember.com/forum/showthread.php?p=47873
    skippybosco, Sep 29, 2008
    #1
  2. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    skippybosco, Oct 3, 2008
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  3. aai2on

    aai2on New Member

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    Protected plugin not showing up

    I copied the files across like in your guide. however my main folders are a little different, so I don't think it matters.

    I created an efront folder under aMember protect as well as the config.inc and eFront.inc, and readme.txt files.

    When I refresh amember, it doesn't show up. The permissions on the folders looks ok. Not sure what the deal is.
    aai2on, Oct 17, 2008
    #3
  4. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    as long as your folders are %amember dir%\plugins\protect\efront you should be fine.

    Did you activate the plugin (step #3)

    skippybosco, Oct 17, 2008
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  5. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    Turned out to be an issue with the mixed case naming of the plugin. This has been resolved in the new version (as well as a bug with handling duplicate IDs and no longer listing lessons that are course only)
    skippybosco, Oct 23, 2008
    #5
  6. aai2on

    aai2on New Member

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    I have the aMember integration working and have really appreciated your help. The dilema I am having is that students login through aMembers member area and then click on a course they have purchase. Then, they have to log into eFront. Is there anyway to persist the cookies so they don't have to login twice? I saw an original note I provided that mentioned this worked only for Admins and the Professor accounts.
    Any help would really help. Otherwise, I can just point them to the eFront login.
    aai2on, Dec 4, 2008
    #6
  7. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    Single signon functions for all aMember -> eFront users.

    The way it works is to create a eFront cookie during aMember login and clear the cookie during aMember logout.

    1) What version of aMember and eFront are you using?
    2) What version of the plugin are you using?
    3) Is this happening to all users or just some?
    skippybosco, Dec 6, 2008
    #7
  8. aai2on

    aai2on New Member

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    Issue

    I found an issue that I am not quite sure how to handle

    aMember lets usersnames include all numbers. Example: 2854

    However, eFront does not allow this, so when the user signs up, I have to manually delete the user and recreate them. Guess this is really a flaw in eFront. Not a big issue, but it keeps a paying student from starting.

    :(
    aai2on, Dec 20, 2008
    #8
  9. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    If you wish to allow usernames that start with numerics, edit the file \efront\libraries\tools.php and search for: case 'login'

    Within in !preg_match replace: [^0-9] with [a-zA-Z0-9_\.\-]
    skippybosco, Dec 20, 2008
    #9
  10. Desiderius

    Desiderius New Member

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    hm, it doesnt work with me. When i delete a user in amember or the product is not valid anymore the user has still rights to get into efront. Should i also protect the folders?

    Please can you help me!!! Also existing user / products will not updated in efront!
    Desiderius, Dec 23, 2008
    #10
  11. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    Be sure you are using the .8.2 + version.

    3.5.2 of eFront introduced a change that was causing the behavior your describe. The updated plugin resolves the issue.
    skippybosco, Dec 23, 2008
    #11
  12. training_solutions

    training_solutions New Member

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    Hello skippybosco,

    I have a question about the eFront plugin. Suppose I have 3 courses and I want to offer them all for one price can that be done? Or does it have to be on a per course or per lesson basis and no combination allowed?

    Thanks
    training_solutions, Feb 2, 2009
    #12
  13. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    Yes, the plugin supports registering multiple lessons/courses to a single product.
    skippybosco, Feb 3, 2009
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  14. training_solutions

    training_solutions New Member

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    skippy,

    Thanks for the reply. what would it take to be able to make it happen? would the lesson and course rules allow if a person paid for Course A only be automatically registered in course B & C?

    Thanks


    training_solutions, Feb 3, 2009
    #14
  15. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    This has been added in the .9 version of the plugin.
    skippybosco, Feb 4, 2009
    #15
  16. exeshop

    exeshop New Member

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    Skippybosco,

    Thank you for your effort with this plugin.

    It must be changed as this integration can be useless for many of us because it should:

    1. Have compatibility in usernames
    2. Have possibility to check more than one course or lesson like with moodle plugin
    3. Have possibility to create all existing users from amember to efront like with moodle plugin by going to rebuild db.
    4. When user is updated in amember it should become updated in efront.

    also, it seems that it is bug in plugin that when you logged out from efront, you are still logged into efront when you click lesson.

    The most important is that you can select multiple courses (or lessons) like with moodle plugin.
    exeshop, Feb 8, 2009
    #16
  17. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    Hi exeshop,

    The code is open source so you are welcome to make the changes and I can incorporate them into the public version of the plugin. If not, I will try and get to it once I finish the current project I'm working on.

    To your questions:

    1. Do you mean the fact that usernames cannot start with numbers? This is by design of eFront for security purposes not a limitation of the plugin.
    2. Unlike Moodle which requires direct database access (which requires you to have aMember and Moodle on the same server) eFront plugin uses the eFront API, which unfortunately does not currently support multiple lesson/course enrollment via. I'll see if I can do something from aMember side in a for_each loop to accomplish this. For multiple lessons, however, you should consider bundling them in a course. For multiple Courses, this is being added to eFront in 3.6
    3. I left it out because no one was using it. Reconciling between the two systems is quite taxing to the system and requires a bit of coding to consider all of the potential issues that could arise. Do you have a critical need for this or just a nice to have?
    4. This works today in the plugin
    5. You can solve the logout issue 1 of 2 ways:
    skippybosco, Feb 8, 2009
    #17
  18. exeshop

    exeshop New Member

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    Skippybosco,

    1. Yes, every such user is not logged to efront. Maybe direct access to efront database such as case in moodle is the better option, what do you think?

    2. It seems that we will stay with moodle, but we prefer efront because of easier management.

    3. Yes we have urgent need, and we are willing to pay, this can decide if we will use moodle or efront. We prefer efront.

    4. You mean today, as today 8.feb? ; )

    5. Yes, thank you.


    Thank you, for your time!
    exeshop, Feb 8, 2009
    #18
  19. allisonr

    allisonr New Member

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    Hi Skippy

    Can you take a look at the following issue I am having. I have updated both amember, efront and efront plugin to latest version


    WARNING: simplexml_load_string() [function.simplexml-load-string]: Entity: line 1: parser error : Extra content at the end of the document in line 63 of file efront.inc.php
    WARNING: simplexml_load_string() [function.simplexml-load-string]: <status>error</status><message>Invalid action argument</message> in line 63 of file efront.inc.php
    WARNING: simplexml_load_string() [function.simplexml-load-string]: ^ in line 63 of file efront.inc.php
    WARNING: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in line 65 of file efront.inc.php


    In fact on testing....it's not integrating at all. Skippy I need help with this. Can I give you the details in PM and you have a quick look for me please. Willing to pay for the consult! :(
    allisonr, Feb 9, 2009
    #19
  20. skippybosco

    skippybosco CGI-Central Partner Staff Member

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    @exeshop:
    Just released .9 of the plugin
    1) Readme now contains full details on how to configure eFront to support usernames that start with a number.
    2) You can now select multiple lessons and/or courses when managing aMember products
    3) Rebuild is still not at a point where I'm comfortable with admins running it in production so it is not in this version.
    4) Profile updates (by user or admin) will update eFront
    5) Readme now contains details on how to set up aMember and eFront for consistent logout of user

    @allisonr: make sure you copy the API.PHP that ships with the eFront plugin to the efront\www directory.
    skippybosco, Feb 9, 2009
    #20
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